True to her word, Naila had sent a servant to meet them in the palace gardens. He was an old man wearing a suit of the highest quality, though the flaps of his jacket were a bit absurd. The servant's black coat had a series of elongated tassel-like flaps with balls of Cottonpull at the end that raised the ends of the patches of cloth and hung around the level of his thighs.

  Xochipilli didn't consider this design to be absurd but instead found it quite 'cool'. Ydazi high fashion orbited around great layers of Cottonpull – Aloe had already seen that with that man of the pawn shop back on Selen with his massive top hat – and instead of seeming elegant, for her it was just a massive pile of noise.

  In simpler words, she didn't like it.

  After the initial fanfare and surprise died down, the old servant guided them to their lodging. Unexpectedly, they were led to a room of the highest quality with lacquered furniture, velveted surfaces, and Myriad lighting of superior artisanal prowess. This was the heart of the Caliphate and not a simple hotel, after all.

  It was still a bit too early to go to sleep, even if that sultan-size bed – perhaps even caliph-size with its unholy size – was calling her. It was one of the greatest temptations the Mother of Plants had ever had. She hadn't slept for… a lot of time now, and she didn't exactly need it, but it was a sort of neurological sleepiness that was assaulting her. The best begged her to sleep on it with its puffy Cottonpull duvet.

  None knew it, but that was one of the hardest fights Aloe had ever had. Especially since she had reached her current status.

  With a lot of willpower, she asked the servant to guide them around and also take them to the dining hall. Xochipilli had eaten not that long ago, but when presented with the delicacies of high Ydazi cuisine, the boy didn't hesitate to stuff himself up like a turkey.

  Food was also one of the needs that had just become suggestions, but when presented with the best of the best of chefs, Aloe was basically obligated to eat.

  The food… was great, it truly was, but a part of her disappointed her. The cuisine of the palace had previously been messy, a hands-on effort that made princesses and servants put their hands on the plate and devour it, but now it was far tamer. With needlessly copious amounts of cutlery, the plates were slowly dissected and eaten even more slowly. The meals had lost their frenzy, and also part of their soul.

  But she discarded it as the tricks of melancholy of her mind.

  Having eaten more than she had for the last decades and Xochipilli starting to drowse off, Aloe stood up and carried her disciple to their room.

  She had hoped this day to be the end of her quest, to finally liberate these feelings that had been shackling her, but whilst she still felt like bursting, the day hadn't been as awful as she would have thought when Naila told her that Aaliyah was dead and had been dead for a long time.

  For now, she felt at peace.

  Dread. Impossible, indescribable dread.

  That was what Aloe felt when she opened her eyes. They had never been closed for that long, and whilst they had, it certainly didn't feel like it.

  She let out a mute yelp as she raised her back from the pillowed bed and found herself in the room of the palace they had been given.

  "I've fallen asleep…" The Mother of Plants slowly and softly spoke, she felt bile gathered in her throat. She felt so vulnerable right now after having fallen asleep in this place. The worst place possible to fall asleep.

  But now she didn't care about herself.

  Aloe looked around and instantly calmed down as she saw Xochipilli peacefully sleeping. Nothing had happened. It took her a second to assimilate that, but after she did her back dropped back onto the bed from exhaustion. Mental exhaustion.

  She had to stop to think for a minute to recall what had happened because sleep had become an unnatural phenomenon to her. Seeing how Xochipilli was wearing silken nightrobes but she was still donning her dress gave her an idea of what had happened.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Yes…" Aloe grabbed her head as if she was suffering from a hangover. "After he put on the nightrobes, he said he wanted to try the bed with me, and I just… fell asleep. Heavens, it feels so weird."

  The old druid, with her skin and flesh tougher than steel, felt like she was going to melt at any moment. Her chest heaved up and down after her body reminded her that breathing was a thing. She felt disappointed in herself. How have I allowed myself to lower my guard this much? She would tell herself. But at the same time, it had felt so good to just let her mind rest.

  "Maybe I shouldn't have spent this much time without sleeping," she mused with a mind clearer than ever before. Her pains and afflictions remained, but she felt sober from rage.

  Just to be sure they weren't in any danger, Aloe changed her internal infusion to acuity and expanded her senses. Her senses were potent enough by default, so she didn't need to use the stance much. It also didn't help that she didn't want anyone to see her in her acuity form.

  As the Nurture stance took root, the druid's senses suddenly covered the whole palace. There were more senses than just the five most people thought of, but even beyond the expanded repertoire, there were some that not many people knew of. Maybe it was just her.

  Her sight expanded from this hell of earth and scratched into one of thoughts. Her presence was overwhelming in both underworlds. She only needed a glance with all of her senses to know that Naila was sleeping. That was everything she needed to know, so she hastily changed back to glamour.

  "If even Naila is sleeping… maybe I should do it more. It isn't as… bad as I remember."

  Even as she was speaking those words, Aloe didn't intend to follow them. Sleep truly felt unnatural to her, no matter how comfortable its embrace might be. Heavens knew what would happen if she closed her eyes again. She couldn't afford to lose anything else. Her cold stone heart couldn't afford to. But at the same time, her dreams were no longer littered with nightmares. Perhaps knowing that Aaliyah was already dead calmed that part of her brain that put her on a constant alert, even whilst sleeping.

  So there she lay on the bed with her eyes open for a handful of hours until the sun came up. Unlike sleep, remaining still yet awake was completely natural to her. And besides, she didn't want to disturb the adorable Xochipilli in his sleep. Yes, she spent the whole night looking at the child sleeping. For her, there was no better entertainment than watching the young druid move from time to time in his dreams with his little sleeping baby face. It took a lot of self-control to not assault him and wake him. He was just being so cute.

  But morning did end up coming.

  A maid came to the door of their room and stood outside for a solid half an hour before Aloe got tired from seeing the woman standing up there. Whether it was out of respect, fear, or whatever else, she didn't care. It made her physically tired sensing the maid beyond the door just waiting as she looked at the door. Which was a mighty endeavor considering she was virtually tireless even without recovery.

  "You can come in," the Mother of Plants told the maid softly.

  With the powerful senses that she had trained in this very palace centuries ago, she could feel the maid jump on the spot before recovering her composure and opening the door slowly.

  "Would you require of anything, madame?" The maid said after taking a single step into the room and remaining there as if afraid to get anywhere closer. The woman wasn't exactly old, but she wasn't young either, maybe late thirties or early forties. However, she had to admit that people looked way young in this era. Her hair was an auburn one with a red hue she had never seen before.

  "Madame?" Aloe asked with a raised brow.

  "Is the title not of your liking?" The woman said with perfect pronunciation, yet her tone was filled with fear. What has Naila told to this woman to be this scared?

  "No, that is not the problem," the druid raised her back from the bed and got a better sight of the maid. She now saw the woman's attire, and Aloe was pleasantly surprised she was not wearing the whorish clothes Aaliyah had made the servants wear, regardless of their gender, but ones more appropriate. Both for people and this age. "I meant to say that I am unacquainted with the title. Where is it from?"

  Aloe didn't know why her speech form had shifted from the common one she used with Xochipilli and also Naila, but she kept it, nonetheless.

  "From the Sultanate of Pincerare, madame. As so I am."

  "Hmm, interesting." The Mother of Plants was proud of herself after humming without making it overly sexual unconsciously. Perhaps sleeping helped. "I have never met a Pincerarean, truth be told. The title presents no issues with me unless it is dyslogistic?"

  "Not at all, madame!" The maid instantly panicked and raised her arms defensively.

  "You are used to Ydazi gestures, and you barely have an accent," Aloe commented with curiosity.

  "I have lived in Asina for most of my life, madame." The maid nodded; she had significantly calmed now, though she constantly abused the title, as if not using it once was a great offense.

  "Could you tell me why you are here, then?"

  "I have been commanded to assist you and your chi- protégé with anything you need during your stay at the palace."

  They had no need for a personal servant, but the agenda behind her presence was so obvious that Aloe couldn't help but be amused. This kind of intrigue felt like child's play after what she had experienced in the palace – both of them – centuries ago. It was obvious that Naila wanted to keep her in sight, and Aloe wasn't really bothered by it. A free maid was a free maid.

  "Alright then," Aloe stood from the bed and straightened her dress. "I will allow you to service us."